Oddities, musings and news from the health world

Fewer dollars for smoking prevention

Even as states pull in billions of dollars in tobacco settlement money – part of which is typically used to fund anti-smoking programs – they're slashing the amount they spend on such programs by 15%.

Altogether, states will spend $567.5 million on anti-smoking efforts in the 2010 fiscal year, says a report released by five groups including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Cancer Action Network. That’s less than a fifth of the nearly $3.7 billion recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And although $3.7 billion might sound like a lot, the states will receive more than $25 billion in tobacco funds.